Slack or cuttings removing attachment for kerf-cutting machines



2 .SlTets-Sheet l G. BODIN Filed Feb; 22, 1945 July 4, 1944.

SLACK OR CUTTINGS REMOVING ATTACHMENT FOR KERF-CUTTING MACHINES ATTORNEY G. BODIN 2,352,683

SLACK OR CUTTINGS REMOVING ATTACHMENT FOR KEEP-CUTTING MACHINES July 4, 1944.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb; 22, 1943 l-NVENTOR George Bodiw My. P

ATTORNEY Patented July 4, 1944 V George Bodin, Chicago, IlL, assignor to Goodman I Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a cor--' poration of Illinois Application February 22, 1943, Serial No, 476,728.

2 Claims. (c1. 262-30) This invention relates to improvements in slack or cuttings removing attachments for kerf-cutting machines of the room and pillar type and has as its principal object to provide an eflicient, ccmacter ll. Said kerf-cutting' machine comprises a main frame l2 having a'chaincarrying cutter bar l3 projecting forwardly therefrom. Said cutter bar is supported in an 'underfr amebrcutpact, and relatively light cuttings removing device 5 tings channel disposed below said main frame of the character described, so arranged as to readbetween side walls 14,. I4 and a base plate I5, said ily remove the cuttings from the path of the cuttings channel opening as usual to the rearof cutter chain and capable of easy attachment or the machine. A cutter chain-J6 is guided for detachment from the kerf-cutting machine. movement about said cutter bar in a usual man- More particularly, my present invention relates in ner, and is driven from a cutter chain sprocket to slack removing devices of the type broadly 11 on the lower end of a vertical-shaft |8,'selec'- V disclosed in Patent No.2,278,796, Which issued to tively driven froma motor 19, disposed at the T. E. Pray on April 7, 1942, wherein a continuous front of the mainframe in a manner Which 'conveyer of the flight type is arranged t be Will hereinafter he more clearly described; .A driven from the power coupling of a mining 15 usual form of flexible feeding mea'ns'is alsopromachine, usually provided for driving a trans- Vided to' move the mining machine along themi'ne porting truck from the rear end of'the-mining bot om on ts bot om during t Cutting a d machine. positioning operations. Said flexible feeding Other objects of my invention will appear from means, a herein shown, Consists :Of & D& 0 time to time as the following specification pro- Winding drums 29 i po e a Opposite SldlBSfiOf ceeds and with reference to the accompanying the machine and suitably. driven from the motor drawings wherein: I 9 in a usual manner. Said winding drums'have Figure 1 is a plan Vie of a kerf-cutting' flexible cables 2|, 2| wound thereon adapted to chine with a slack removing device constructed be. anchored atsuitable points at pp d in accordance with my invention attached there- 535 Of e Working p e. to fee t e cutter bar I3 .to, and with certain partsbroken away and cerinto and across the coal face. 1. 1-: ta n other parts shown in horizontal section; Keri-cutting machines of the character herein 'Figure 2 is an enlarged rear end View of the described are usually p l d from p aceto .kerf-cutting machine with th slack removing place on a wheeled truck (not shown). and while device attached thereto; 0 mounted on said truck the latteris driven from Figure 3 i a fragmentary i i ubstantially the motor I!) of the kerf-cutting machine. For longitudinal section showing certain details of this purpose the running gear 0 e t uekis con- -the slack removing device and the drive from the nested 170 a vPower -O d v ce 23 at the rear cutting machine gearing thereto; end of the-mining machine, when the. latter. is Figure 4 is an enlarged d t i fragmentary 7, mounted in transporting position on said truck. transverse sectional view taken through the cut- The means for driving a power takemfi will tings removing conveyer; v more fully appear as the following specification Figure 5 is an enlarged detail fragmentary m proceeds. It will be understood, howevergnthat view with certain parts broken away and certain When the machine is 130 be used for oa other parts shown in Substantially horizontal 1 it is entirely withdrawn from the truck and" is tion in order to illustrate certain details of the moved 0V6! the mine flOOI its Own bOitOm'bY drive to the cuttingsremovjn device; means of the cables 2|, 2|. The slack .removing .Figure 6 is an enlarged detail fragmentary devi e a o din ly-is pr fera ly desi d: for transverse sectional'view taken through the drive attachment t0 the real of eikerf cutting t th cuttings removing device; v machine onlyduring the actual cutting'operation Figure 7 i g n-enlarged fragmentary r ont and is detached from the. kerf-cutting mach-inc se tional. View taken through the drive-to" the w n t machine is-loaded on its truck for cuttings removing device and showing certain ran port ti n. i detailsthereof not shown in Figures 4 and 5.3-3 Referring now in particular to the i details 0f Referring now to the details of the emb dim t the slack removing device H), which forms th'" pfmy inventionillustrated in the dra,w'lng -,'a, subject matter of the-present inventiorip said slack removing vdevice generally indicated'by refslack removing d ce nc udes an elongated .grence character 10 is shown asapplied-to a kerf frame 24 detachably secured l to the reareni cutting machine of the conventional. roomfiand of the-machinelandextendingtransverselytherepillartype indicated generally by reference charof beyond. the retreating side 0f the 'machine.

Said elongated frame is open towards the ground to permit the material removed from the path of the cutter chain by the conveying means to drop to the ground, and forms a support and guiding means for a pair of spaced endless chains 25, 25 having flights 26, 26 connected therebetween. Said flights depend from said chain during the conveying operation. As herein shown, said endless chains are trained about idlers 29, 29 on a shaft 30 extending longitudinally of the machine and mounted at the advance endof said frame in opposite sides thereof. From said idlers, said endlessjchains. extend beneath the horizontal legs of angles 3 1,, 3|, form- I ing a portion of said frame and also forming hold-down guides for said chain, to guide said chain in ahorizontal path across the discharge end of the cuttings passageway formed by the side walls l4, l4 and the base plate l5 of the kerf-cutting machine, so the lower ends of the depending flights 26, 26 arezdisposed just above the mine bottom, tosweep/the cuttings discharged by the cutter chain across the mine bottom. At the right-hand orretreating side of the machine said angles extend in an upwardly inclined direction andlaterally beyond the retreating side of the machine, to and around idlers 33, 33 on ashaft 34, mounted at its ends in opposite sides of the machine and disposed a substantial distance above the. ground, so the flights 26, 26 will pile the material discharged by the cutter chain Hi to theretreating side of the machine andwill turn around said idlers at a point sufficiently above said pile, to prevent the carrying of the cuttings towardsthe machine 7 by said flights. From said idlers, said chains extend in a downwardly inclined path along supporting guides 35, 35 of said frame. At the lower portion of their downward path of travel the supporting guides 35, 35 extend in an upwardly inclined direction to drive sprockets 36, 36 on a shaft 31, coaxial with and driven fromthe power take-off, 23 in a manner which will hereinafter be described. At the point where said' chains turn in an upwardly inclined path,'the sides thereof opposite from the supporting guides 35, 35 are engaged by hold-down guides 38, 36, which guide said chains as they turn from a downwardly to an upwardly inclined pathto the drive sprocket 36 (see Figure2). From said drive sprockets, said chains extend in a downwardly inclined direction to and around theidlers 29, 29 and along the lower part of the cuttings discharge passageway. A cover.39 is provided to cover the upper part of said chain and frame and the i flights 26, 25, to prevent injury to the machine operator.

The elongated frame .24 is detachably connected to the kerf-cutting machine by means or connecting brackets 4|, 4| extending laterally and rearwardly from opposite sides of the side Walls l4, M, in parallel relation with respect thereto. and terminating; a slight distance behind the rear end of said sidewalls. Said connecting brackets are adapted to be engaged between the furcations .of bifurcated connecting lugs 43,43 extending from the inner side of the frame 25 towards the kerf-cutting machine. Pins 44; 44, adapted to register for engagement. with apertured portions of said connecting brackets and 1 lugs, are provided to detachably hold the lower portion of said frame to the lower portion of the kerf-cutting machine.

The upper portion ofthe frame 24 is. detach ably connected tothe kerfecutting' machine by member and shaft.

means of a frame and housing 45, which forms a bearing support for the longitudinally extending shaft 31, on which the spaced drive sprockets 36, 36 are keyed. Said housing, as herein shown, is of a split construction including an outer half 41 having a rearwardly projecting bracket 48 secured to andforming a part of the frame 24, which bracket has the drive shaft 31 journaled therein. inner half 49 having an inwardly extending annular portion 50, which fits within a recess 5| formed in the rear wall of the main frame l2 of the kerf-cutting machine. Said recess is of a cylindrical formation and is disposed concentric with the power take-off 23. Said inner half of said housing is provided with a boss 53 which, as herein shown, extends within a socket formation and is adapted to engage the socket 54, which likewise is of an irregular formation, so said socket will rotatably drive said drive A spur gear 5'! is keyedon said shaft and meshes with and drives a spur gear 58 on the shaft 31, for driving the endless chains 25, 25 from the kerf-cutting machine. A plurality of cap screws 52', 52 extending'through said housing and threaded in the rear endof theframe I2, are provided to detachably secure said housing and the frame 24 to the upper part of said cutting machine frame. @The drive from the'motor l9 to the power take-off 23 and socket 54 includes a longitudinal shaft 59 journaled in the frame I2 anddriven from the rear end of the motor l9 througha suitable spur gear reduction (not shown). ,A coaxial shaft 65 is driven from the rearendof said shaft 59 by means of a coupling 6|. Said shafts are coaxial with the power take-ofi 23 and said power take-off is keyed to and driven from the rear end of said shaft 60.

A cuttings sweep indicated at 62 is provided to aid the cutter chain in propellingthe cuttings beyond the rear end of the machine into the path of the flights 26, 26. Said sweep, as herein shown, is secured to the lower end of the vertical shaft Hi, just beneath the sprocket I1, as by a nut 63, and has four radially extending arms 64, 64 extending horizontally in .close rela-' of inclination of the extreme down block of the cutter chain l6 at their inner ends.

The drive from the motor !9 to the sweep 62 and the cutter chain drive sprocket II includes a bevel pinion 66 keyed on the longitudinal shaft 59 and meshing with a bevel gear 61 secured to the upper end of a flanged portion of a drive sleeve 63. Said drive sleeve is journaled on the vertical shaft l8 on ball bearings 69, 69 and has an internally splined clutch member 10 splined thereon. The splines of said clutch member are adapted to engagea splined member I l-, keyed'on the vertical shaft l8, for driving said shaft: A suitable system of links and IeVerSis-prOvided to shift said clutch member, which is not-herein shown or described since it is no part "of my present invention. a While I have herein shown and descrlbed'oh Said housing also includes an' form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting my invention to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting asit may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a kerf-cutting machine having a frame, a cutter bar having a portion extending through a cuttings passage opening tothe rear end of said frame, a cutter chain guided for orbital movement about said cutter bar, a cutter chain drive sprocket for driving said cutter chain about said cutter bar, a rotatable cuttings sweep disposed beneath said sprocket, coaxial with the axis of rotation thereof, to assist the cutter chain in discharging the cuttings through said cuttings passageway beyond the rear end of the machine, and a cuttings discharge conveyer extending across and detachably mounted on the rear end of said frame and driven from the kerf-cutting machine, said conveyer including a frame extending across said cuttings passageway laterally beyond the retreating side of the machine,

a chain conveyer guided for movement about said frame and having flights depending from said frame, when traveling across said cuttings passageway, said frame being open towards the ground throughout its length and having a horizontal portion extending across the discharge opening of said cuttings passageway, adjacent but spaced above the ground a distance suflicient to permit said flights to convey the cuttings discharged by said sweep along the ground beyond the retreating side of the machine, and having an upwardly inclined portion extending laterally beyond the retreating side of the machine for elevating said chain and flights above the ground,

to clear said flights from the discharged cuttings as they reverse their direction of travel along said frame.

2. In a kerf-cutting machine having a frame having a cuttings passageway extending therethrough and cutter chain carrying cutter bar extending through said cuttings discharge passageway and projecting beyond the front end of said frame, a cuttings discharge conveyer extending across the discharge end of said cuttings passageway and including a frame extending across the rear end of said frame and beyond the retreating side thereof, a pair of endless chains guided for movement along said frame and having spaced flights depending therefrom to a point close to the ground When traveling across said frame, for conveying the cuttings along the ground transversely of said frame beyond the retreating side of the machine, the portion of said conveyer extending beyond the retreating side of the machine being upwardly inclined and said conveyer reversing its direction of travel at a point spaced above the ground a distance sufiicient to prevent the scattering of the cuttings by said flights, as said flights turn about said frame on their return path, a geared reduction drive detachably connectible with the gearing of said kerf-cutting machine, for driving said conveyer and including a housing encasing said drive and secured to said conveyer frame and having bearing means for said drive, and means for detachably connecting said conveyer to said kerf-cutting machine including means for connecting said conveyer to opposite sides of said frame adjacent the lower end thereof, and means for securing said housing to said kerf-cutting machine frame at a point spaced above and intermediate the points of connection of said conveyer to said frame.

GEORGE BODIN.

opening at the rear end thereof, a 

